3 divas and a beatboxer

Now it has come down to this: Three black divas and a white hip-hop beatboxer.

That’s four talented singers who will try to outdo each other to make it to the finale of American Idol (AI).

This is definitely the first time in the history of AI that three black singers made it this far with a very big chance that two of them will go head-to-head in the finale (more on that later), that is, if the Blakers will allow that. Now that Justine Timberlake look-alike Chris Richardson is gone, there’s a huge possibility that his votes will go to his best buddy Blake.

Two more weeks to go before the much-awaited two-hour season finale of AI on May 24 live on ABC 5 at 10 a.m. with an encore telecast at 10 p.m.

So now, let’s take a look at the four contestants and see who among them should win and why.

Melinda Doolittle. Two words for Melinda – winner material. She’s highly talented, sincerely humble and nice. This former background singer has overcome her initial hesitation to be a frontliner and has proven to the world that she definitely has what it takes to be a solo artist. Judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson have loved her from day one and apparently the viewers have too for she has never been in the bottom three. Every week, she shows how versatile her voice can be and in fairness to her even her looks have improved a lot. She is definitely the safest bet to win the title, if we are going to base everything on sheer talent.

Jordin Sparks. What’s not to love about this girl? She’s 17, she’s got this big powerful voice and she also manages to flash this endearing look on her face after every performance. She can yet be the youngest American Idol. Though Jordin struggled during the rock-themed night, she managed to get the people’s votes — the audience probably knew that Jordin won’t be making a rock album anyway so they give her some slack. Jordin can definitely come out of this a winner because her talent and self-confidence are overwhelming.

Lakisha Jones. Lakisha is no doubt a good singer but she doesn’t have what Melinda and Jordin have — charm. It also doesn’t help that this single mom has had a few bad weeks and she’s been in the bottom three twice already. Lakisha may have the same back-story as Season Three winner Fantasia Barrino (being a single mom and all) but Lakisha is just no match for Melinda. Melinda really has the edge because she’s been a background singer for so long while Lakisha paid her dues working in a bank.

Blake Lewis. Who would have thought that a hip-hop beatboxer like Blake would make it big in AI much more be in the Top Four? Well, some did. For the past weeks, Blake had received many great reviews from the judges for being original and picking the right song. Like Chris Daughtry from last season, he’s not afraid to take risks and to put his own flavor into every song he performs. But we’ll see how far he can go with this because last year Daughtry only made it to the Top Four. Maybe Blake has a different destiny. And who knows? This dark horse might just pull off one big surprise.

With all this excitement, you wouldn’t want to miss the last few episodes of AI Six, would you?